Al fresco in Wine Country

Grab your darkest movie-star shades, your wide-brimmed hat and your SPF30, it’s time to dine al fresco in Wine Country. Whether you’re out for a little lunchtime sun, a poolside happy hour or an evening under the stars, BiteClub has some of Wine Country’s top picks for dining out. Best spot to see and be […]

Jhanthong Banbua

You know things are bad when the sound of your own wheezing and sneezing wakes you from a NyQuil-induced blackout. Trouble looms when Jell-O and applesauce sounds reeeeally good and a Kleenex box becomes your sleeping partner. Yep, I’m wading through an eater’s worst nightmare: The dreaded head cold. Because it’s not just the aches […]

Hank’s Creekside

I am ashamed–very ashamed–to admit that after living in Sonoma County for more than three years, I have never been to Hank’s Creekside. Call me a brunch snob. I simply refuse to stand in an hour-long line for pancakes*. No matter how many Food Network stars rave about them**. I stand corrected. Well, sort of. […]

Pubs, grubs and killer brownies

Is Santa Rosa becoming Sonoma County’s gastropub capital? We realize beer and brew spots are the hottest new trend in restaurants, but two new pubs are set to open downtown this summer. Get ready to grab a pint at Toad in the Hole (which has been taunting passersby in its Railroad Square location for months) […]

Farm Markets are sexy

In celebration of the opening day of Santa Rosa’s Evening Market-Top 10 reasons to hit the farm market 10. Fava beans. With Chianti or without.9. Zucchini blossoms. Put them in your hair, or stuff them with cheese and fry ’em up.8. Sweet pea blossoms. She’ll think you picked them yourself.7. Carrying a market basket is […]

The Best Meal Ever

What’s the best meal you’ve ever had? Don’t think too hard about it or try to impress me–just let whatever comes to mind pop in there. Was it at Chez Panisse or Cyrus? The French Laundry, Syrah or maybe Spago? Or was it that awful Thanksgiving that mom burned the turkey and the whole family […]

BarBersQ

My family laughs hysterically when I talk about California barbeque spots. In their neck of the uh-holler-ribs are a religion. Pulled pork gets smoked with as much gusto as a pack of Virginia Slims. And their sauce don’t taste like vinegar, ya’ll. From Memphis to Mobile, how you sauce your barbeque is part of a […]

The aggressive pursuit of pleasure

Pleasure is not an ‘extra’ in life. It’s not something to be doled out in a miserly fashion. It’s not something to be avoided, made to feel guilty about, or worst of all, ashamed of. Pleasure is what makes life worth living. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the thing is, most of us don’t get that […]

A better gin and tonic?

David Arnold can’t just leave things well enough alone. He has to make them better. More bubbly. More, well, gin and tonic-y. With a carbon dioxide tank, a bottle of gin, and dozens of bags of powdered acids, and lime extract that he’s processed through some sort of jerry-rigged distillation machine, he’s demonstrating to us […]